


Kitchen Prince

by bluetails



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: (Not Mingyu or Wonwoo but HEADS UP), Character Death, Chef Mingyu, Eating Disorders, I cant believe im writing this, Kitchen Princess AU, Love Triangle, M/M, Mingyu Centric, Mingyu's chef talents inspired me, Slow Build, Unrequited Love, cooking au, highschool, minor gyuhan, this manga was my childhood tbh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2017-12-29
Packaged: 2018-12-23 17:24:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11994483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluetails/pseuds/bluetails
Summary: As a young child, Kim Mingyu owed his life to a mysterious boy who saved him from drowning. Now Mingyu’s only clue to find and thank this boy is a golden spoon, leading him to the very doorsteps of the prestigious Hana Academy in the heart of Seoul.





	1. The Flan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok here's me with another meanie fanfic! And it's Mingyu centered once again xD  
> Go read my previous (now completed!) fic [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11170515/chapters/24935229)
> 
> Ok so this fic will be a **Kitchen Princess AU** Idk which of you have read that, but it was my first ever manga, and a really good story at that- but ofc you don't need to read that to be able to understand this! Anyway, I hope this fic will be able to retain at least a little bit of the greatness that is the original lol

Mingyu stands with both nervousness and excitement at the door, feet shifting back and forth beside his luggage. He can smell the faint and comforting scent of lavender drifting in from the opened windows.

“Mingyu hyung, I don’t want you to go!” Chan, a young boy around the age of eight, clings to his jeans with teary eyes.

“Yeah! Why do you need to go so far away to school in Seoul?” Another small girl demands. Choruses of agreements ring out, echoing the others.

“Now now kids, behave,” A frail yet soothing voice drifts out, calming the young children that are crowding Mingyu at the door. “Mingyu is going to go fulfill his dream. We need to wish him good luck.”

“Thank you Granny,” Mingyu softly smiles at the old woman.

“You’re going to become a pastry chef like your parents aren’t you Mingyu?” her voice is warm, and as always, seems to carry with the gentle breeze blowing into the house. “Ah it only feels like yesterday since you first came here. I was so worried. You wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t talk.”

The old woman’s eyes moisten slightly. “Now look at you, growing up and going to a fancy school in Seoul.” She reaches up to lightly pinch his cheeks.

Mingyu can’t help but feel his heart swell, and his eyes water a bit as well. After all, this is the woman that had raised him for a good portion of his childhood.

He can still recall the day he first came here, as well as the many days following the first.

The Lavender House is a small cabin-like home that stands in the beautiful country fields of Goeseung. Here, orphans who have no parents can live together like family under the care of Granny Soohee, a gentle but strong old woman. There are no fancy shops in this area, but there are rows and rows of beautiful lavender growing all around.

The thought of leaving this place, and all these precious faces behind stirs a strange feeling in Mingyu’s stomach. Feelings of sadness, yes — but there’s also tangles of hope, excitement, and even a little bit of fear.

He leans down and takes the old woman in his arms. Mingyu can’t help but notice how much frailer she’s getting by the day. The children all noisily pile around the two of them, into a messy but huge and warm group hug.

“You’re welcome back here any time dear,” the woman whispers into his shoulder. She takes a step back and smiles again. “This is your home after all.”

“Thank you granny. I’m so fortunate to have such a wonderful home here.”

 

 

 

“All right! I’m off,” Mingyu waves brightly from the path, heading towards the bus stop.

With each passing step he can’t seem to stop himself from looking repeatedly over his shoulder at the house that’s growing smaller and smaller in his view.

He eventually sits on the bus, clutching only one thing in his hand: a shiny little golden spoon with a heart shape at the tip of the spoon, along with a beautiful flower engraving on the tip.

Four months ago he had found out where the spoon came from. And now, he was finally heading there: Hana Academy, a rich private high school set right in the heart of Seoul.

He had studied hard to transfer there, and surprisingly managed to enter with a recommendation of the board director himself, and a scholarship— (it had stunned him because he really couldn’t have done _that_ well on the test. Mingyu had always been only a slightly above average student).

Still, he entered, and now the world was full of possibilities.

A new school, new people— and hopefully a place where he would at last meet the boy that saved his life and gave him the spoon. The boy that showed him how good the world could be, even when nothing felt good at all.

 _His flan prince_.

(Or at least, that’s what the kids at Lavender house seemed set on calling him when Mingyu told them the story. To be perfectly honest, the title made Mingyu laugh.)

 

 

 

 

 

***

 

 

Kim Mingyu was only seven years old when he lost both his parents in a terrible accident.

The painful days surrounding their death were now all muddled together and blurry in his mind.

He just remembered that when he arrived at the Lavender house, he wouldn’t speak or eat. He would just stare out at the fields.

He also remembered crying nonstop, especially when he went to sleep. He would cry silently into his blanket, clutching the sheets hard, and hoped no one at the house would hear him.

He wondered why his parents had gone and left him all alone in this scary and big world.

He remembered feeling _scared_ more than anything, even though nothing scary was happening, and even though the Lavender House was truly a warm and nice place.

But at the tender age of seven, everything was new and terrifying. Without his parents, who would fend off his nightmares? Who would hold him when he got scared or hurt?

He felt so, _so_ , alone.

And although all those days were now blurry and distant memories to Mingyu, one day in particular managed to etch itself into his mind…

He had just run off from the Lavender house. He absolutely hated it there! He didn’t want to be there. He just wanted to be with his parents in his _real_ home again.

His eyes had become so blurred with tears as he kept walking aimlessly, that he didn’t even notice the slight bend in the creek he was next to, and had slipped straight into the freezing water.

He vividly felt the crush of the torrent against his lungs, and the shock of the thrashing water.

But then there was a hand – a strong grip around his wrist, pulling him up until he could gasp the fresh air.

He wheezed and coughed and stuttered on land, and slowly the face of a young boy, possibly around his age came into view, standing over him.

The boy’s face was now hazy in his memory, but he could recall the worried rush of his words.

“Hey, are you ok?!”

Mingyu weakly coughed a couple more times. And then there were tears in his eyes once again.

“Why? Why did you save me?!” he cried out. “I could’ve gone to heaven where mommy and daddy were!”

It was silly, but it made absolute perfect sense in the moment. As terrifying as the rush of the water had been, this was the only thought that came into Mingyu’s lonely and small existence.

The boy in question had just sat there surprised for a moment.

Then wordlessly, he leaned forward and wrapped his thin arms around Mingyu. The simple gesture filled him with this unshakable warmth that made him forget all about the freezing water from just minutes ago.

When he pulled away, he reached into his knapsack, and pulled out a small container and a golden spoon.

“Flan?” Mingyu hiccupped a little, his tears finally dying down. It was a dessert he was all too familiar with, having made it with his parents countless of times.

Slowly he took the cup and ate. The flan was still warm, and the sweet vanilla taste melted into his mouth, warming every bit of his insides like liquid amber.

“It’s delicious,” Mingyu finally said, and could feel a watery smile forming on his face.

And then the boy said something that would be carved into Mingyu’s memory forever.

_“When you eat something good you smile._

_That’s why mommy and daddy didn’t take you. They wanted you to keep smiling.”_

At these words, Mingyu’s smile unfurled slowly but brightly. It felt like it had been too long since he had been even remotely happy like this.

“I need to go,” the boy suddenly got up.

“Isn’t this your snack though?” Mingyu wiped the remaining dry tears on his snotty face.

“It’s ok, you can have it.”

And then Mingyu decided he would have to make a promise. A promise he could never ever break— because this boy had just made his dark world so bright and colorful with only a few words and some yummy food.

The boy turned away and started running off.

“Then next time I promise…” Mingyu called out, making sure his voice was heard. “I’ll make you the most delicious dessert in the world!”

Mingyu had sat alone by the creek for a while, tasting the sweet softness of the flan. He could feel the boy’s warm embrace still lingering against his chest.

He wondered why he never asked for a name.

 

 

 

 

 

***

 

 

Mingyu steps out into the bright and busy city of Seoul.

He can’t help but rush to every food stand and shop in view, buying dish after dish and stuffing his face with happiness. He’s absolutely amazed at the all varieties of food in every inch of the city. Back at the lavender house, there was no such thing!

When he finally arrives at the academy, his jaw quite literally drops.

“Welcome to Hana Academy,” A young man (definitely not a high school student) with a pristine suit welcomes him. “You must be Kim Mingyu?”

“Y-yes,” he stutters.

“I’m Jisoo, your escort.” The man bears little expression as he leads the gasping and stunned 2nd year boy through the grandiose iron gates of the academy, introducing him to the acres of land behind.

Inside, a clean cut and wide stone pathway leads around the academy. Perfectly manicured vibrant green grass and shrubs line every other inch of the area that isn’t occupied by a building or pathway. Small trees dot the quad, providing shade from the sun.

He sees a couple students and adults here and there, but other than that, everything is wide and empty. Mingyu assumes that they must all be in class— after all it’s the middle of the day.

“Hana academy is school to almost 8,000 junior high kids, and one of the most well renowned highschools in all of Korea,” the man explains, his voice calm and fairly monotone, probably having done this intro countless of times. “Here are the two main buildings.”

Mingyu gawks at the massive 4 story high structures that tower in the sunlight. There are two long buildings that are arranged like three sides of a rectangle. 2 sides make an L-shape, while one side of the ‘unfinished rectangle’ stands on it’s own, unattached to the other portion of the main building. A grand fountain stands in the middle of the rectangular expanse, and benches and trees line the pathways that cut through the area.

“First and Second year students are in the L-shaped building, while Third year’s classes are in the second building, also called the Haneul building,” the man continues. “Now if we go through the path between these two buildings, that’s where your dormitories are— boys on the right, girls to the left,” Jisoo motions to the number of smaller buildings that come into view. “There are five halls each for both boys and girls.”

Mingyu nods, ‘ooh-ing and aa-ing’ at these new surroundings, causing Jisoo to smile a little.

“If we turn left before we hit the dorms, you’ll end up behind the school, and you’ll find the gym, pool, track field, and other places you’ll probably have no use for. Feel free to explore.”

Jisoo looks amused by Mingyu’s large glowing eyes that scan every inch of the place in undisguised wonder. He hands Mingyu a map of the place showing him where all his classes are, as well as a timetable.

“I assume you read all the rules in the handbook?”

Mingyu nods rather eagerly and overexcited.

“Good,” Jisoo nods. “Curfew is 11. There should be no one out on the quad any later than that. The dorms are expected to be quiet at 12.”

Eventually the man leads him to his dorm, showing him to his room.

“Well here it is, home sweet home."

Mingyu just stands there with his mouth agape at the sparkling room. The room is a soft beige colour with deep blue draped curtains that frame the large windows. There’s a TV, desk, queen-sized bed, and a huge closet, as well as a spacious washroom. It’s nothing like the cramped but cozy bunks he was used to back at the Lavender house.

“Wow! This is my first-ever room of my own in years!” Mingyu practically squeals like a small child, kicking off his shoes and flopping onto the bed.

Jisoo just shakes his head with a small amused smile. “Your classes start tomorrow at 9:00. And don’t lose these.”

“Oh yes,” Mingyu quickly straightens himself and takes the keys that Jisoo had been dangling in front of him.

“Thank you so much Jisoo sunbae,” Mingyu bows.

The older man simply nods, smiles, and turns around to exit. Before he leaves, he looks over his shoulder again. “Oh and Mingyu, you’re not supposed to leave the dorms until the director has given a go ahead for you, and given you your uniform alright?”

Mingyu nods happily.

“You can find me in the Resources and Faculties office in the Haneul building if you ever need anything. Or if you lose those keys.”

 

 

 

It’s only half and hour later when Mingyu decides, ‘Screw unpacking!’ and opens the windows of his room, very pleased to find a large tree growing right next to it. Mingyu clamors out the window, onto a branch. He hangs upside down on the tree, laughing by himself like a child.

He knows he’s not supposed to go out as Jisoo had instructed, but his feet feel itchy with excitement and he can’t help himself. Besides, climbing trees make him feel relatively closer to home.

He’s only a couple feet away from reaching the ground when his eyes suddenly catch sight of short, raven black hair of another student passing below. Mingyu’s foot skids harshly, and all he manages to yell is “watch out!” before landing straight on another boy with a soft ‘oomf’.

Mingyu opens his closed eyes, unhurt and still upright, and realizes that he’s face to face with a stunned pair of sharp blackish eyes. His arms are clamped around this stranger’s neck and he had landed straight on their lap

“What…” the stranger let’s out, eyes wide in surprise, his cheeks somewhat red. “What the fuck?! What are you a monkey?”

“Ah sorry!” Mingyu hastily clamors off the boy. “Are you ok? Are you hurt?”

The guy gets up rubbing his back a bit, “yeah fine, just bruised my ass a little.”

Mingyu would probably think the guy was kind of cute if he wasn’t fairly intimidated by those sharp apathetic eyes that glance up and down at him, looking a whole lot less surprised now. He has a strangely cold air about him.

Mingyu mumbles a couple more string of sorry’s before the guy simply waves his hand as if to say it’s fine, and turns around to walk away.

Mingyu suddenly realizes as he’s looking around that he doesn’t know how to get back to the entrance of the dorm. His pants are already dirtied and he feels kind of sore from the fall so he doesn’t want to try and climb back up to his window.

Mingyu quickly catches up to the skinny boy he had almost nearly crushed (ok he’s exaggerating but still).

“Hey!” Mingyu shouts a little.

“Ah!” the boy yelps. “Jesus, stop sneaking up and appearing out of nowhere like that.”

“Sorry,” Mingyu chuckles, feeling a bit calmer around this guy. Rather than cold like Mingyu had immediately thought, he seems more awkward than anything. It’s kind of cute.

“Uh, why’re you following me?”

“I don’t know how to get back to the entrance of the dorm.”

The boy sighs, but not unkindly, and silently motions toward a side door of the school.

“That’s the school,” Mingyu points out.

“It’s faster that way,” he simply responds. Mingyu figures he should stop referring to this stranger as ‘the guy’ in his head, and asks for a name.

“It’s Wonwoo, a second year,” he says once they’re inside.

Mingyu grins, “I’m Kim Mingyu! Second year student as well, nice to meet you.”

“Kim Mingyu huh,” Wonwoo murmurs. “Wow I thought you were just a monkey.”

Before Mingyu can retort Wonwoo explains to him, “This way leads out towards the dorm entrance.”

He nods his head feeling relieved.

“And what on earth are you wearing?”

“Huh?” Mingyu looks down at his brown vest, blue checked shirt, and polka-dotted scarf, all paired with his beige pants. (Granny Soohee always liked to call Mingyu her “country bumpkin” with this kind of outfit on.) Then he looks back at the navy blue blazer, unbuttoned shirt and loose tie Wonwoo is improperly wearing.

“Uh… I’m new here?”

“I could tell,” Wonwoo responds dryly. “You’re not supposed to be out are you?”

Mingyu flushes slightly under the sharp gaze of the boy. “W-well… you’re not supposed to be skipping either right?”

Wonwoo scowls a little. “Monkey.”

“Stop calling me that,” Mingyu childishly sticks his tongue out.

A sweet scent of vanilla is now drifting across the hallway, which distracts Mingyu. “Mmm, I smell flan.”

“Flan?” Wonwoo frowns. “I don’t smell anything.”

“Wonwoo,” a voice suddenly calls out, and the two turn around. A cute petit girl with short hair is heading towards them with a tray in her hand. “There you are!”

“You ditched cooking class again,” She says softly, gazing at Wonwoo. “We made flan and um, nobody wanted to eat mine.”

Mingyu grins. He knew it! It was flan.

The girl holds the tray out towards Wonwoo with a misshapen drooping caramel lump sitting pathetically on it, the dark topping syrup spilling off the lump.

Mingyu squints at the tray, his head tilted. _F-flan?_

Wonwoo simply stares before wordlessly turning away.

 _Oh… but she tried her best_ , Mingyu can’t help but think.

“No thanks.”

“Huh? But!” Mingyu impulsively blurts out, turning towards Wonwoo.

“I don’t like sweets,” Wonwoo says with a bored voice. “And I won’t eat someone else’s failure.”

The girl’s eyes droop by just a fraction, and a couple surprised tears form in her eyes

At that moment, there is a clack of a heel against the tiles, and suddenly another student appears standing behind the girl.

He stands with his arms crossed, his eyes sharp and firm, and there’s a small, but not particularly friendly smile tugging the corner of his lips, directed at Wonwoo.

“How ungentlemanly of you to make a girl cry, Wonwoo.”

The student has beautiful long blonde hair that frames his face, and falls a little into his eyes. He calmly pushes the stray strands out of the way. “You should eat it.”

Mingyu’s heart notably thuds when the boy’s smile softens after making eye contact with him.

Wow… he’s so _handsome_.

The student moves his eyes back on Wonwoo, gaze unyielding.

“You should stay out of other people’s business Jeonghan,” Wonwoo mutters.

“Come on now, don’t be like this. We’re brothers,” Jeonghan, as Wonwoo had called him, speaks with a slightly teasing tone. He calmly takes the plate from the girl and holds it out to Wonwoo.

“I heard you’re living in the dorms now. Dad and I are both worried about you,” he continues, sounding sterner now.

Something snaps in Wonwoo’s eyes.

“Don’t treat me like a kid,” he growls, and with a small flick of his hand, the plate clatters to the floor.

Thankfully it isn’t ceramic, so it doesn’t shatter. But the flan is now on the floor, completely ruined. As if on instinct, Mingyu rushes to the ground.

“I-it’s ok. It wasn’t good anyway,” the girl with the short hair tries to assure him, but she sounds dejected.

“Oh, um…” Wonwoo’s stormy eyes have immediately cooled as he looks at the scene before him. He scratches the back of his neck uncomfortably as Mingyu stares silently at the dessert on the ground.

He must’ve looked pretty unhappy because Wonwoo just shrugs as if he’s trying to assure himself and everyone else around him. “It’s just flan.”

Mingyu’s hands clench into fists against the cream coloured floors of the school hallway.

“Didn’t your parents ever teach you not to waste food?” Mingyu directly looks back up at Wonwoo, his eyes less than friendly now.

Mingyu shifts his attention to the shorthaired girl.

“Let me help you remake this flan.”

“Oh, um-”

He turns back to flash a glare at Wonwoo whose eyebrows have now risen up in surprise.

“I’ll remake it,” Mingyu walks up to Wonwoo, his voice ringing out clear and determined. “So you have to eat it.”

Wonwoo stares back looking a little stunned.

“Alright,” Jeonghan claps happily from the side. “We’ll set up the kitchen for you.”

 

  

*** 

 

 

Wonwoo isn’t sure if he was just cursed, or if the universe hated him.

But his day so far had been a full of shit that he didn’t ask for.

First his father comes to try and pay him a visit, which obviously ends in a shouting match.

Then, when he’s peacefully trying to skip his cooking class and get some air just to cool his head down from his encounter with that man, some crazy new kid decides it would be fun to swing on the trees and practically _jumps_ him, and now his butt feels bruised.

Kim Mingyu was truly another entity.

A kind of annoyingly endearing sort of human: the kind that Wonwoo would try and avoid at all costs.

He was at a glance too loud, too expressive, too frivolous and far too bright and clingy— in short, he was exhausting, and Wonwoo had only been around him for a good 15 minutes.

But somehow, and strangely so, if Wonwoo were asked what were the worst parts of his day, he wouldn’t put Kim Mingyu on the list.

No, Mingyu would fall anywhere _but_ that list, which is kind of an unnerving thought to Wonwoo. That fact that he can’t bring himself to even remotely dislike someone who seems to possess all the qualities he had _thought_ he couldn’t stand, and was in so many ways, an obvious opposite of Wonwoo himself.

One thing that did fall on “worst moments of the day” however, was his brother showing up.

Wonwoo knew he was being a dickhead when he rejected Eunha’s flan. _He knew_ , but still went on with his harsh words.

Maybe he was just in a shit mood from his small meeting with his father, so he wasn't in any mood to play nice. And truthfully he truly didn’t like desserts.

Not because he disliked the taste of sweet things, but the fact that they were painfully reminiscent of his childhood that he wanted to throw away so badly.

Jeonghan showing up was the last straw.

And so Wonwoo lashed out.

He lashed out in that one moment, and shortly after he could feel the discomfort squeezing his lungs as he avoided looking at the flan he had knocked to the ground.

He wanted to just walk away, pretend nothing happened, but clearly Mingyu wasn’t going to let him do that.

Mingyu’s voice rang clear down the hallways, promising Wonwoo that he would _have_ to eat the flan he remade.

Wonwoo felt his eyes widen just a fraction as he stared at Mingyu who was looking at him with such open, clear, and determined eyes. Mingyu who hid behind no façade, and who anyone could tell exactly what he was feeling even though Wonwoo had only just met this guy.

Wonwoo couldn’t help but glance over at Jeonghan in the midst of all this. Jeonghan was watching the situation unfold with the strangest expression. His eyes were thoughtful and poised, with something like intrigue lacing his features.

Wonwoo narrowed his eyes.

Nothing good could come when Jeonghan made a face like that. 

 

 

 

Despite all the reasons to try and escape the situation he had been placed in, currently, Wonwoo finds himself in the cooking class with Eunha, Mingyu and Jeonghan. A couple girls are swooning, and there’s a buzz among the students wondering why the ever so beautiful and popular Jeonghan is there.

“Hey is it ok if we borrow this place for a while?” Jeonghan sweetly smiles.

Wonwoo swears he sees heart eyes in the girl’s eyes as she says, “Anything for you, Mr. Student Body President!”

Wonwoo rolls his eyes and turns his attention to Mingyu and Eunha who have started prepping.

It’s a strange realization, but he simply can’t look away from Mingyu.

At one point Eunha fumbles with an egg and it lands splat on the counter. “Sorry I’m so clumsy,” she sighs and shakes her head. “That’s why no one will eat my desserts. I just can’t make something difficult like flan.”

“It’s alright,” Mingyu coaxes her with a small smile. “Everybody has some difficulty with crumbling flan, but if you take your time, it’s really easy.”

“Flan get’s harder with more egg and softer with more milk,” he explains as the two are measuring ingredients. “I think your first one didn’t harden because there was too much sugar. When there’s too much sugar, the flan loses the ability to harden.”

Wonwoo can hear the impressed murmurs from the cooking class students behind him, some people saying they didn’t know that.

Slowly, Mingyu talks Eunha through the process, his smile impossibly bright.

And somehow it’s like watching magic.

Wonwoo can’t be the only one entranced.

_“20% egg…_

_65% milk..._

_15% sugar..._

This is the perfect combination!” Mingyu beams.

Once they’re done whipping their mixtures, Mingyu holds up a small teacup. “And we’ll use these for the flan cups.”

“A teacup?” Eunha asks in surprise.

“Yep, it’s better to use something that doesn’t conduct heat. It looks nice too!”

Eunha smiles wide, her eyes sparkling as she pours in the mixture into a small pink teacup.

“First you put it on high heat,” Mingyu explains setting the teacups into hot water. “After two to three minutes, lower the heat.”

Eunha nods, carefully following the instructions.

“And then I always like to make a wish,” Mingyu says.

“A wish?”

Mingyu puts his hand together and closes his eyes, laughing a little. “I hope this flan comes out good so the person who eats this can enjoy it.”

Wonwoo stares in undisguised wonder at Mingyu.

 

 

 

The flan looks beautiful.

“Wow,” Eunha holds the teacup up in amazement, her face flushed in happiness. “I really made it!”

Wonwoo walks up to her, and gently takes the cup from her as well as the spoon.

He takes a bite.

The flan not only looks great, but it tastes amazing as well.

It’s the perfect consistency and flavour, and melts right in his mouth. It makes Wonwoo forget that he was ever feeling down today in the first place.

“This isn’t bad,” he finally says, a small smile automatically forming on his lips.

“I’m glad,” Mingyu beams at him and sits down on a chair leaning his head against the table. “Jeez I’m tired now.”

Eunha looks delighted and seconds away from jumping up and down with joy. “I never realized how good it feels for someone to actually like what you made,” she giggles a little and turns to Mingyu.

“Thank you so much! Um, I was wondering what your name is? I haven’t seen you before…”

“I’m Mingyu,” he straightens back up and grins. “I’m joining the second-year A class. Nice to meet you!”

Wonwoo’s jaw almost drops.

The students around them are suddenly buzzing. 

 _“Class A?!”_  

_“That’s the special class.”_

_"No way!_

Mingyu just looks around, confused.

“Oh so you’re the one,” Jeonghan is suddenly standing in front of Mingyu, the same careful and poised look back in his eyes. “The new student with the recommendation from the director.”

Jeonghan smirks a little as he leans down very close to Mingyu, his hands resting against the back of Mingyu’s chair.

“U-um yes?” Mingyu is blushing with all the sudden attention.

“You have a cute smile.” Jeonghan smiles amorously.

And without a moment’s warning, he simply leans down and kisses Mingyu’s cheek. “Welcome to Hana Academy,”

Mingyu’s eyes go completely wide, his face rivaling a bright red tomato.

Wonwoo can hear the gasps and squeals behind him from the onlookers. His eyes narrow and he just stares, letting the whole of the situation sink into him.

If Wonwoo knows his brother like he thinks he does, he can immediately sense something is up.

Something not so good.

And it has to do with Kim Mingyu being at this academy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since this takes place in South Korea, there are only 3 years of highschool there.  
> Mingyu and Wonwoo are going to both be second year students here - which is Grade 11 for those of you in North America (and other parts of the world idk about). Meanwhile Jeonghan is a third year (Grade 12). 
> 
> Anyway, this is just me testing the waters. If this becomes too 'unfitting' to write I'll just drop it. I guess I just don't know how it'll turn out... (it worked well in my head lol). So yeah, tell me how it is?


	2. The Rainbow Dessert

Mingyu stares at the ceiling of his shiny new room at the academy. It’s a Tuesday night and he should really be reviewing for his first day tomorrow, but he’s just thinking about the charming student president.

For some reason he can’t stop playing the image of Jeonghan in his mind over and over. His soft smile, his delicate steps, his flowing beautiful hair— and the way he welcomed Mingyu to the academy. It probably isn’t surprising that the student president, who seems to capture hearts of both males and females in the school, makes butterflies swarm in his stomach, but well, what can he do about it?

He doesn’t exactly know what he’s feeling yet— so for now he decides to just set it aside and focus on collecting himself mentally for tomorrow.

 

 

 

The special class Mingyu had been placed in proves to be all the prestige that the students in the cooking class from yesterday made it out to be. But at the same time, it also turns out to be a whole lot worse than he expected as well.

The class starts off with the teacher plopping him next to Jeon Wonwoo who just gives him a blank stare.

“Hello!” Mingyu cheerfully greets him. “Didn’t realize we’d be in the same class.”

Wonwoo only nods and looks away from him, his chin leaning against his palms. Mingyu can’t help but frown at the sudden coldness. After a couple of minutes of Mingyu taking out his school supplies and opening his notebooks, Wonwoo finally breaks the silence.

“Your fly is down you monkey.”

Mingyu goes red glancing down at his pleated pants and quickly fixes that issue while Wonwoo’s face remains cool and stoic as ever. “Don’t say it so loudly!” he hisses.

There’s a tiny amused smirk forming on Wonwoo’s lips now, which he hides by turning his face slightly towards the window. Mingyu scowls, but he’s not being too serious when he lightly shoves Wonwoo’s shoulder.

When there’s a small break between subjects and they’re waiting for their next teacher to arrive, Mingyu is suddenly surrounded by students who seem curious about him.

“Um, nice to meet you. I’m Kim Mingyu.” he shyly introduces himself to the small crowd. He figures he should try to make some new friends.

News and gossip seem to travel really fast around the school, because all at once the students are buzzing once again.

“Oh my god, aren’t you the one that Jeonghan kissed?” Some girls giggle, while others frown. “I’m so jealous!”

“You must be so important!”

“What do your parents do? What’s your relationship with Jeonghan?”

“Yeah, and what’s your special talent?”

The questions are like thousands of buzzing flies and gnats attacking him from every corner. Mingyu gulps from the flood of attention. From the corner of his eye, he catches Wonwoo looking bored by the whole cabal and turning his head to stare out the window. It calms him down, just slightly, to know that not everyone is all gossip-y and nosy.

“N-no, it’s nothing like that,” Mingyu stammers. “I’m just... I came from Goseong.”

“Ooh! Does your father own a big company there?” a girl with a particularly high-pitched voice asks, batting her eyelashes at him.

“No! I... I’m from, um, the countryside,” Mingyu pauses when they all look at him blankly. “I came here on a scholarship,” he explains.

The moment Mingyu says that, the whole class seems to go dead silent, and there’s a sort of stillness in the air that creates a pit in his stomach. Something tells Mingyu that he just committed social suicide with only one sentence.

“Oh,” A clear voice finally rings out to cut the silence. A guy with flawless fair skin, and an attractively sloped nose and jawline, as well as silky bronze hair walks up to his desk. He looks like he could be a model. “Then why are you here?”

Mingyu gulps. “W-what?”

“I’m sorry,” the handsome boy laughs. “I’m not trying to interrogate you and be rude or anything, but this _is_ the Class A— so it’s not exactly where _scholarship_ students belong.”

He says the word ‘scholarship’ with a kind of palpable distaste, and Mingyu’s hands begin to sweat with nerves.                              

“Yeah!” another girl behind the boy chimes in. “This class is for students who are actually _important_.”

“Huh?” Mingyu asks, now confused on top of nervous.

“The sons and daughters of all the big CEO’s are here,” the handsome boy gestures around him. “They’re going to be inheriting their parent’s company when they’re older. Celebrities, prodigies, and people with exceptional talents are placed in this class as well.”

“Like Wen Junhui here is a famous model!” a girl in the class giggles and points to said handsome boy.

Mingyu is pretty surprised and in awe by the fact that a model is standing in front of him, and it must show because another girls scoffs. “What, have you not seen him on any magazines?”

Mingyu shrugs helplessly. He doesn’t want to explain how back at the Lavender house, there weren’t really any magazines, or advertisements everywhere, or talk of celebrities and models... the Internet connection was too poor to do anything but homework, and they didn’t have cable either so no one really cared about those things.

“So,” Junhui squints at him and Mingyu can see the careful judgment in his eyes. “Do you have any special talent or something of that sort, seeing as you don’t exactly have the same, you know...” Junhui makes a vague gesture with his hands, and Mingyu immediately knows that he means to say ‘don't have the same _social status_ as us’.

“Um...” Mingyu tilts his head in thought. “I won the ramen eating contest in Goseong once? I also the won the all-you-can eat meat contest, and the milk drinking contest— oh and the ice-cream eating contest too— and...”

The class is staring at Mingyu in stunned silence when suddenly there’s quiet laughter from the desk next to his. He turns to see Jeon Wonwoo with his hands over his mouth. “You’re just a big eater! That’s great,” he snickers into his palms.

Mingyu sticks his tongue out to him. He can now hear the quiet judgmental murmurs from his classmates.

_“Wow, why is he even in this class?”_

_“I thought he’d be all that, having the director himself put him in here.”_

_“Wow, this is just embarrassing for Class A.”_

Mingyu kind of wants to sink into his seat and disappear by the end of the day.

When the last bell rings, his stiff shoulders sink in relief. _Finally_.

He gets up to quickly gather his belongings, only to have someone rush past his desk and knock over his pencil case. All his pencils and erases clatter onto the ground and Mingyu sighs in frustration. He crouches down to pick them up, and his hands meet someone else’s long, thin fingers. He looks up in surprise to see Wonwoo silently helping him gather his stuff.

“Wonwoo come on!” someone whines in background. “Hurry up!”

Wonwoo quickly gets up, handing the pencils to him. Mingyu turns his head to see that the demanding voice is Junhui’s. Oh, so they’re friends? he wonders.

“I’m coming I’m coming, just wait,” Wonwoo mutters, slinging his bag over his shoulder. He gives Mingyu one last glance before tucking in his chair and walking off. Junhui throws a casual arm around Wonwoo’s shoulder as the two exit from the class.

 

 

***

 

 

Wonwoo stares blankly at his plate of food at the cafeteria. He doesn’t know why he even bothered coming here seeing as he has no appetite. He figures it’s the arrival of wintery weather that must’ve gotten to him, and now he feels the gross seasonal cold starting to hook his insides.

He stares around the cafeteria in boredom, and his eyes manage to land on the broad shoulders and tall stature of Kim Mingyu. Wonwoo knew Mingyu didn’t come to the cafeteria yesterday because he caught him eating by himself back at the classroom— so he feels surprised to see him here today.

Mingyu stares at the cafeteria board that reads the menu and prices for today in somewhat of a dismay before glancing down at the money in his hand. Eventually when Mingyu comes out of the lineup, Wonwoo can’t help but notice that it’s with only one sweet potato in his hand.

Wonwoo had been feeling pretty bad about yesterday because of all the scorn Mingyu received from his classmates, so he wonders if he should invite Mingyu over to sit with him. That idea gets cut short when Mingyu immediately plops down at an empty table beside his.

A couple minutes follow before Junhui and his ‘admirers’ sit down at the same table as Mingyu, seeing as there was no room anywhere else. Wonwoo and Junhui usually sit together, having been friends since childhood, but Wonwoo figures that the popular man needs to give his fangirls attention every now and then as well. He rolls his eyes at that thought.

Last year as a freshman Wonwoo was quite popular as well. That is until people realized he had zero interest in them, and wouldn’t bother maintaining those kind of superficial connections with everyone. But well, to each their own right?

5 minutes later of him picking at his food, commotion suddenly stirs. He watches Junhui look at Mingyu and ask him something. It must’ve been to pass the jug of water from his side of the table. Mingyu gets up and leans forward to take the jug. Suddenly as he’s turning around to hand over the jug, his arm nudges the lunchbox sitting at the edge of the table and it falls splat onto Junhui’s lap.

“Oh my god I’m so sorry!” Mingyu blurts out, rushing down to help him.

Wonwoo slaps his own forehead in frustration. How could this guy be so clumsy?

“Junhui!” a couple students exclaim in surprise.

Suddenly the flurry of worried girls over Junhui’s sacred pants shove Mingyu away, causing him to stumble backwards and knock over the water jug. Wonwoo visibly winces as Mingyu lands on the ground with a thud, shirt all drenched as an empty water jug rolls away.

One of the rudest girls in his grade (which Wonwoo can wholly agree with the title) turns around and glares at Mingyu. “I can’t believe you wrecked Junhui’s lunch and uniform on purpose. What are you, jealous?”

“Yeah,” another one scowls. “I bet you cheated to get in the Class A anyway, considering you have no unique talents and came here on a _scholarship_.”

Everyone at the cafeteria that had been watching the drama unfold is now murmuring. The rumour that Kim Mingyu— a scholarship student— had cheated to get in _and_ dropped Wen Junhui’s lunch is being relayed faster than he can blink.

Junhui remains silent through this all, carefully trying to wipe his pants. Wonwoo begins to massage his temples. This whole scene was causing him a migraine, and he’s this close to heading back to the class.

“You’re just a nobody,” another one of Junhui’s admirers scoffs. “Go back to Goseong where you belong”

Mingyu is still on the ground, shirt soaking wet and staring at the eyes on him in surprise. Slowly, his surprised expression turns dark and stormy. He glares at the girls that had accused him of all that nonsense.

“Sure I’m might be a nobody... but I don’t drop food on purpose. It was an accident!” he snaps back, anger rising in his voice. “And I didn’t cheat to get in. I worked really hard for that. You girls are so judgmental and critical of others. Why don’t you all go home so your mothers can teach you some manners?”

They all stare at him in stunned silence for even having the guts to talk back to all of them.

Once again Wonwoo finds himself snickering at their surprised faces. _Serves them right._

Something about Mingyu and the way he carries himself, refusing to take shit from anyone makes him smile.

Now Wonwoo is never the one to _want_ to get caught in the ridiculous drama that all the arrogant rich kids in his grade perpetuate— particularly those from the class A; however, when a brilliant idea suddenly crosses his mind, he simply can’t keep it to himself.

Slowly, he makes his way to the table. “Why don’t you just remake it?” he asks, voice clear and loud, looking directly at Mingyu.

Mingyu is getting up from the ground, brushing off his pants and wiping his shirt when he glances up at Wonwoo’s question with surprise.

“What?” he asks.

Wonwoo hates how everyone’s eyes are on the two of them now, but instead of walking away like he normally would, he decides to make an exception. _Mingyu_ is the exception. “You can cook right?” Wonwoo asks. “If you didn’t drop the lunch on purpose, why don’t you just remake it?”

Junhui is now standing beside him with a frown. “That was created by my uncle who’s a chef at Gaon, a 3 Michelin star restaurant. He can’t possibly remake that!”

“Gaon?” Mingyu perks up, a slight sparkle in his eyes now. The storm that was there before had dissipated into nothing. “I’ve been there before! The dish you had was their sweet potato taramasalata with salad right?”

“Yes,” Junhui nods.

“I’ve tried it before,” Mingyu grins. “I can remake it.”

“Isn’t that a little cocky of you?” Junhui suddenly bites back. “Gaon dishes are not that easy to remake.”

“No no, I think it’s a great idea,” a voice suddenly rings out. Wonwoo whips his head around to see his brother standing behind him with folded arms and an amused smile. “I was watching this all, and I think it’s good for Mingyu to try and challenge himself a little after all,” Jeonghan’s eyes twinkle. “The kitchen is all yours,” he says to Mingyu, nodding his head towards the canteen.

Mingyu’s eyes widen and his cheeks turn pink under Jeonghan’s gaze. He immediately bows. “Thank you so much!”

The three follow Mingyu to the kitchen to watch him make the dish— and just like last time, Wonwoo swears he’s watching magic happen. Even Junhui who’s standing next to him looks impressed.

“I went to Gaon once with my parents when I was little,” Mingyu explains as he’s gathering the ingredients. He closes his eyes as though he’s imagining the dish in his head. “Pink roe from cod mixed with sweet potatoes, all in the middle of colorful vegetables... it was like a beautiful ornament.” He smiles at them, mixing together the ingredients.

In only minutes the dish looks ready, and Wonwoo thinks it looks as nice as how Mingyu had described it.

“And to top it off, the ornament needs a crown.”

“A crown?” he questions.

“Gaon’s taramasalata uses crystal sea salt from England,” Mingyu answers, looking at the cupboard labeled Salt and Spices before picking out what he wants. “It’s the best salt to use with vegetables.”

“You can remember all that?” Jeonghan looks at him impressed and intrigued.

Mingyu nods his head and blushes.  “I don’t forget a taste once I’ve had it,” he says as he sprinkles a little bit of the sea salt on the taramasalata. “And here we go, it’s ready!”

When they step outside of the kitchen, Junhui is the first one to try the dish. The moment he takes a bite, he goes silent and simply stares at the plate of taramasalata. The other girls from Class A try it as well and there are gasps all around. “Hey it tastes just like Junhui’s!”

“Yeah it does,” another one agrees.

Mingyu smiles with satisfaction. “Good.”

There are murmurs all around from students who try the dish exclaiming with surprise at how good it is.

“He’s amazing,” Jeonghan remarks, leaning against the wall.

Wonwoo’s gaze follows Jeonghan’s to land on Mingyu who looks happy sharing the plate of taramasalata he had made with the students who seem excited to try it.

“Yeah he is...” Wonwoo agrees, voice trailing off. “Jeonghan, what are you planning?” he slowly asks.

“Planning?” Jeonghan gives him a coy smile. “Do you always think I have an ulterior motive?”

“Yes. Yes I do.”

 

***

 

 

Mingyu sighs at the sky, chestnut pie in hand. He had just gotten rejected without a second glance by the cafeteria to have him work there. They wouldn’t even try the pie he offered, saying “this wasn’t a place for students to work!”

It had been a week at the academy and Mingyu still felt like most of his classmates either hated him, or refused to acknowledge him. “Why does it matter if I’m a scholarship student,” he mutters kicking stray pebbles on the ground in frustration as he walks. “Stuck up brats.”

The only good thing that had happened this week was probably his friendship with Wonwoo. Ever since the incident at the cafeteria, Wonwoo would talk to him more readily. The days when Junhui was missing class for his modeling schedule, he’d even wait for Mingyu after school and they’d head back to the dorms together.

Wonwoo and Mingyu were like polar opposites in every way, shape, and form, but somehow they managed to get along. Wonwoo was always more calm and quiet than Mingyu, and almost acted as a cooling presence to his fiery headstrong emotions. He realized that throughout the week, he genuinely liked hanging out with Wonwoo— and that he was probably his first and _only_ friend in this new school.

Mingyu plops down on the grass and stares at the pie with a sigh. As he’s contemplating on what to do with it, the most unexpected person suddenly approaches him; it’s Wen Junhui.

The two don’t exactly _not_ get along, but Junhui seems to ignore Mingyu majority of the time. Or maybe it's just him who thinks that. Anyway, Junhui approaches him with a smile.

“What are you doing out here in the cold Mingyu?”

“Uhh, I just went to ask for work at the cafeteria, and they totally rejected me,” Mingyu laughs sheepishly.

“Oh, you want to work at the cafeteria?”

“Well, I wanted to work somewhere where my cooking might come in handy,” Mingyu sighs.

“Hmm...” Junhui tilts his head up in thought. “Oh! I know another cafeteria in the school. It’s this really great little diner where you might want to work.”

“Really?” Mingyu’s eyes light up.

“Yeah. It’s called Jinju diner. And it’s a really cute little place in the west wing part of school grounds. Do you want me to give you directions there?”

“Could you please?” Mingyu excitedly asks him, and so Junhui pulls out a notepad and starts jotting down some directions to the diner.

 

 

 

“Ok, left here, and past the bushes,” Mingyu mumbles to himself trying to read Junhui’s incoherent scribbling as he stumbles through the bush.

“Huh?” Mingyu stares up at the building that’s supposed to be his destination. He peers at the directions again. This place _can’t_ be the diner.

However when he shuffles closer, he sees the faded sign that reads “Jinju Diner” that’s hanging crooked with some nails missing. The building is completely worn out with the paint peeling off, and there’s a chipped old board that reads “open” hanging by the door.

Carefully Mingyu pushes open the wooden door of the diner and it creaks. “Hello?” he calls out, slowly entering. The inside is as worn out and terrible as the outside. There’s boxes and other supplies strewn into the corner. It’s all cluttered and messy. Many of the lights need fixing and the whole place looks like it needs to be repainted. There’s a couple of tables and chairs messily strewn about the diner.

“Who’s there?” a scruffy low voice asks. Mingyu nearly jumps at the sound and turns to face the voice. It belongs to a young man, probably in his mid-twenties that has his feet propped up on the counter against the cash register. “You woke me up from my nap,” he grumbles, rubbing his head sleepily.

“S-sorry,” Mingyu stammers. “The sign said open.”

The man has a small stubble growing, and a red bandanna around his forehead to keep his floppy black hair out of the way. He’s wearing a worn out white buttoned shirt that’s pulled up to his elbows and cargo pants. “Anyway, what are you here to get?”

“Um, nice to meet you...” Mingyu’s eyes scan over to the man’s name tag that reads Choi Seungcheol, “...Mr. Choi.”

“You can call me Seungcheol.”

“Ok Seungcheol. Um anyway, I was hoping you would hire me.”

Seungcheol stares at him with a ‘what on earth is this kid thinking’, sort of expression. “You need the director’s permission for that,” he lazily waves Mingyu off.

“No please!” Mingyu begs, holding out his pie. “I’ll get permission later, but please let me help!”

Seungcheol looks at him with curiosity, breaking off a tiny piece  of the chestnut pie with his fingers and popping it into his mouth.

He looks thoughtful while chewing. “Hmm... ok then,” he finally says after swallowing. “I guess you can help. You said you’ll do anything right?”

“Um, y-yeah. It entails cooking right?”

Seungcheol smirks. “Baby steps now.”

“What?”

 

 

 

And that’s why an hour later Mingyu finds himself washing dishes. He’s been washing for half and hour and he’s still not done!

“You’re totally just using me,” he scowls at Seungcheol who has his feet propped back up on the counter, and is laying back with his bandanna over his eyes, napping away. Seungcheol lifts his bandana slightly to glance at him. “You’re the one who said you’d do anything.”  

“Why do you have so many goddamn dishes?” Mingyu angrily scrubs away at a pot. “When was the last time you did them huh?! And why is this place so filthy and worn out?”

“Quit complaining,” Seungcheol yawns.

“Lazy old man,” Mingyu mutters under his breath.

“What’d you call me?”

“Lazy old man,” he says out loud this time.

“Right, that I am,” Seungcheol simply shrugs and covers his eyes with his bandana once again.

Mingyu finally finishes up the dishes about 10 minutes later, and tiredly sits down next to Seungcheol.

Suddenly, the tiny bell by the door sounds, meaning someone had come in. “You get customers here?” he asks with surprise.

“Yeah, every day at six.”

Mingyu reaches down to grab the menu, only to find that all it has on it is coffee. “You only sell coffee?!”

Seungcheol shrugs. “He never wants anything else. You don’t need to worry. The coffee is one milk, no sugar by the way.”

Mingyu nods quickly making the drink and stepping out to greet the customer. He’s surprised to see that it’s the student body president.

“Jeonghan-hyung!” Mingyu exclaims in surprise setting down the coffee in front of him.

“Oh Mingyu,” he looks up at him, and tiredly takes off what must be his reading glasses and places them on the table. “You work at Jinju diner?”

“Um, yes.” Mingyu smiles shyly. “I just started... I don’t think I really fit in with my classmates, so I wanted to be of use somewhere else in the school,” he chuckles nervously. “Anyway, how do you know about Jinju diner?”

“Oh, this place used to be alive and teeming with students before,” Jeonghan says taking a sip of his coffee. “But then the manager changed, and the new guy didn’t want to do anything anymore so it all went downhill. Now it looks like this, and rarely anyone comes here,” he shrugs. “I used to come here with Wonwoo when we were younger actually— we really liked the jelly desert they served... ” Jeonghan seems to trail off wistfully at those words.

“I see,” he nods.

Mingyu realizes that this kind of place is exactly what he needs. He wants to get Jinju diner off the ground, and get students to come here again. Maybe then he’ll finally feel more like he belongs at this academy. He truly does want other students, including his classmates, to enjoy his cooking.

“Anyway, um,” Mingyu clears his throat. “It’s dinnertime, so would you like to eat anything?”

“No thanks,” Jeonghan shakes his head. “I have these.” He takes out a couple containers of what looks like different medicines.

“Iron and Vitamin supplements?” Mingyu tilts his head questioningly.

“Yes. I have a meeting to get to right after, so hopefully these will last me...” Jeonghan trails off. “Eating is a hassle.”

He stares in surprise at Jeonghan. Mingyu’s whole life, as far as he can remember, has practically revolved around food. Maybe that’s why he can’t understand Jeonghan’s lifestyle. How could someone _not_ enjoy eating? The very idea struck him as crazy.

“Anyway,” Jeonghan says, getting up, having finished his coffee. “I have to get going now. Nice talking to you.”

Mingyu wordlessly nods his head.

Jeonghan suddenly leans close to Mingyu. “By the way Mingyu, yesterday you were amazing at the cafeteria,” he smiles softly. “You say you don’t fit in with the special class, but you’re such a good cook.” Despite being several inches shorter, Jeonghan reaches up to ruffle his hair. “Have a little more confidence in yourself, yeah?”

Mingyu blushes furiously and rapidly nods his head. “O-ok.”

“Bye bye,” Jeonghan gives him a small wave before walking out.

“Bye,” he weakly calls out, trying to calm down the tiny little continuous flips in his stomach.

Mingyu is cleaning up to head back to the dorms when Seungcheol drops a plastic bag in front of him. “Here, take this with you.”

He peers into the bag to find containers of food. “Oh um...”

“Think of it as thanks for doing all those dishes,” he shrugs before turning back to go inside the kitchen

“Ah ok, thank you!” Mingyu grins and bows. Maybe the man wasn’t so bad after all.

 

 

 

Mingyu is walking back to his dorm through the school hallway when he encounters one more unexpected person for the day. Jeon Wonwoo is huddling in his parka, walking out of the nurse’s office.

“Wonwoo!” he calls out and waves. Wonwoo looks up in surprise and waits for him to catch up.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Mingyu frowns.

 “Huh?”

“You walked out of the nurse’s office.”

“Oh that.” Wonwoo does this soft earthly chuckle that Mingyu’s beginning to get used to the sound of. “I just ran out of Tylenol and I had a headache so yeah. Came here to ask for a couple,” Wonwoo explains, voice nasally. “It’s honestly just a seasonal cold.”

Wonwoo’s cheeks are flushed pink, and his eyes and nose look a little runny.

“I see...” Mingyu glances down at his bag. Seungcheol put way more food in there than for one person. “Hey, have you eaten dinner yet?”

Wonwoo shakes his head. “Honestly no, I didn’t really have an appetite before.”

“Hey, that’s not good!” Mingyu frowns disapprovingly. “If you’re sick, you should be eating.”

“I know I know.”

“Look, I have a lot of food,” Mingyu says lifting up his bag. “Do you want to sit down somewhere and eat with me?”

Wonwoo stares at him, and then at the bag curiously, before finally shrugging his shoulders. “Um sure... I’m kind of hungry now I guess. Do you need to heat up the food?”

Mingyu feels the bag to see if it’s warm before nodding, “Yeah I think we do.”

“Ok then, come this way.” Wonwoo leads him straight to the staff room. Mingyu stands before the entrance with a gulp. “Um Wonwoo, are we allowed to be in here?”

“What time is it?” Wonwoo asks, looking over his shoulder at him.

“Like 7?”

“Then yeah we are. The teachers who remain this late don’t really care,” Wonwoo shrugs. “Don’t worry,” he assures Mingyu. “I mean, there’s a microwave in here.”

He slowly nods before following him inside. Well Wonwoo was right. There are about three teachers in the lounge and they don’t give the two students a second glance.

After the food is all microwaved, they sit at a table at the corner of the room and dig in.

“I started working at Jinju diner,” Mingyu decides to tell him.

“That old place?”

“Yeah, I met Jeonghan there.”

Wonwoo frowns, stabbing a pork ball with his chopstick. “He still goes there?” he mutters.

“Mhmm,” Mingyu nods his head. “He said you two used to go together.”

“That was a long time ago,” Wonwoo chuckles, but it’s without trace of humour and sounds more bitter than anything. "Jeonghan's a traitor. Don't trust him."

Mingyu wonders about Wonwoo's words. So far he'd been trusting the student body president to great lengths- was it wrong for him to do that? And what happened between the two to make Wonwoo say all this? He knows it’s not his place to pry but still...

“Hey Wonwoo,” he suddenly blurts out. “Come to Jinju diner at 6 tomorrow ok?”

“Huh?”

“Just promise me! Come at six!” Mingyu abruptly gets up and throws away their empty containers.

“O-ok,” Wonwoo stammers, looking more confused than anything.

“I have to go now ok?” Mingyu pats him on the back. “Take care of yourself. Bundle up well when you go outside.”

“Ok,” Wonwoo quietly says. “Thanks Mingyu. Bye.”

 

 

 

Mingyu is now taking off in the cold autumn night towards the Haneul building. He rushes inside to the Resources and Faculties office, happy to find the lights still on.

Jisoo greets him with his typical stoic face. “Did you lose your keys Mingyu?”

“N-no,” he pants, resting the weight of his hands on his kneecaps. When he recovers he straightens back up and looks directly at Jisoo. “I just, wanted to ask you if it was ok for me to work at Jinju diner. They said I needed the director’s approval, but I was hoping you could do it,” Mingyu gives him a meek smile.

Jisoo sighs. “That rundown place? Well ok, I don’t see why not.” Jisoo heads back inside his office gesturing Mingyu to follow. He shuffles through his drawer before pulling out a slip of paper. “Just fill this form out, and you should be good,” he says, handing Mingyu the paper.

“Ok, thank you so much!” he grins widely, bowing before heading back to his dorms, tired but happy.

 

 

 

The next day, he races to the diner as quickly as possible. Seungcheol doesn’t even spare him a second glance, letting Mingyu do whatever he pleases.

Mingyu is happy to find many supplies in all the boxes and other junk that had been piled into the corners of the diner. It’s hard and heavy work, but slowly, little by little he begins transforming the place.

He sweeps and polishes the hardwood. He puts away all the junk that’s laying around back in the storage closet, and makes up for the dim flickering lights by hanging up some fairy lights he finds in the boxes. He doesn’t have time to be replacing bulbs at the moment.

He arranges the tables in neat rows and place small plants as the center piece for all of them, after he polishes them clean, one by one.

As Mingyu works, he thinks about what Granny Soohee taught him as a kid.

_“There’s magic in good food Mingyu,” she had said. “It’s very simple, yet sometimes difficult— the key is...”_

The alarm Mingyu had set on the clock rings at 6, and he jumps up to peer out the door of the diner.

The moment he spots Wonwoo and Jeonghan, Mingyu bursts outside with a grin. “You both came!”

They both look at him in surprise, and he ushers them in. Wonwoo needs slightly more forceful pushes because he looks like he wants to leave as he’s obviously trying to avoid Jeonghan.

“Wow,” Jeonghan stares at the place when they enter, eyes flitting all around and up to the fairy lights Mingyu had meticulously woven from light to light of the diner. “Is this really the same place?”

“Atmosphere is very important when dining,” Mingyu proudly smiles. “That’s why I re-arranged the place to look like the Lavender house back in Goseong.”

He seats them both at the nearest table before coming out of the kitchen with the magic in his hands.

“What’s this?” Jeonghan asks with a small smile.

“They’re deserts. To celebrate the refurbished diner,” Mingyu tells them. “You can take off the ribbons.”

They undo the ribbons and the napkin falls down to reveal two tall sundae glasses of jelly, assorted into the colours of the rainbow, each garnished with a small slice of orange, and a spoon with each glass.

“It’s rainbow jelly,” Mingyu smiles. “Eat up! It has a lot of fruit, so there are lots of vitamins in it. You can eat it when you’re sick, or if you don’t have a lot of time.”

The two brothers take a bite of the jelly. “It’s good,” they both exclaim with surprise in unison. Wonwoo catches Jeonghan’s eye and goes red, while Jeonghan just snickers.

“I thought you didn’t like deserts?” he grins at Wonwoo.

“Same with you,” Wonwoo mumbles.  

“Please, when you were younger, you used to take my deserts. Did you want this too?” Jeonghan teasingly asks him holding out his spoon.

Wonwoo blushes and frowns, looking down in his glass and chomping down on the jelly faster. “No!”

Something warm pools into Mingyu’s limbs watching the two eat, talk, and bicker almost as though they were normal siblings, simply enjoying the company of one another. He doesn’t know what exactly happened between them, but granny Soohee was right about there being magic in good food.

_The key was to eat with someone important._

And for the first time since he had arrived at Hana academy, Mingyu finally feels like he found a place he can call _his_. Somewhere where he finally belongs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, now that I finished my other [chaptered fic](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11170515/chapters/24935229), and school is finally giving me a tiny breather, I hope to update this fic more consistently!  
> The pacing for this story is really slow though, just warning you (if you haven't read the tags already). And there's tons more than just being about meanie.


	3. The Christmas Cookies

Autumn bleeds into winter and soon everyone is bundling into their school scarves and thicker blazers.

Mingyu’s pretty much given up on trying to get his classmates to like him— well minus Wonwoo of course. But even Wonwoo somehow seems to avoid him whenever Junhui is around. He can see now that those two are really close, and of course he doesn’t want to get in between that; but he can’t help but feel a dull aching pain whenever that happens.  

Which is why he’s really surprised when he’s pulling out his homemade lunch during break (god the cafeteria food is so expensive— how on earth would he be able to afford that?), and Wonwoo walks up to him and says, “Hey Mingyu, do you want to sit and eat with Junnie and I?”

Mingyu’s eyes flit to Junhui who’s standing right behind Wonwoo. His expression is strange, and almost looks a little blank and cold. Mingyu looks away thinking it’s his imagination. “Um, I don’t want to bother y—”

“Mingyu, it’s a yes or no question,” Wonwoo cuts him off. “Do you want to sit together or not?”

“U-uh sure,” Mingyu manages to stammer out. He honestly does want to join them, but for some reason, the look on Junhui’s face makes him hesitate. He almost feels like an intruder even though Wonwoo was the one who invited him over.

As quickly as the feelings of discomfort come, they fade as well. Soon, Mingyu is eating and laughing with them, talking about their different teachers and favourite classes. Mingyu wonders why he was so discomforted by Junhui earlier when he seems like a generally chill and nice guy, despite being a bit showy and flamboyant.

“Anyway Mingyu, I was thinking... you’re not in the Christmas play right?” Junhui looks at him. He had been animatedly talking about the play for the past five minutes and was now focused on him.

Mingyu’s smile slips off a couple seconds later when he remembers that he in fact _isn’t_ partaking in the play. He silently shakes his head in response.

Wonwoo had explained to him a while back that the Christmas play was an event done by the Class A students at the school-wide Christmas party that takes place every year on the eve. However, Mingyu wasn’t assigned any role in the play, seeing as the class wanted nothing to do with him.

“Ok good, then you have some time on your hands right?” Junhui nods his head excitedly. “I was wondering if you could make a cake for the assembly! On behalf of the class.”

Mingyu gulps. Between rushing back and forth between school and work at Jinju diner, he figures he can find a pocket of time somewhere to make the cake. However, it’s judgment of the students that he’s afraid of, and it’s making him hesitate.

Wonwoo is now looking at him with encouraging eyes— and it strikes Mingyu that prior to this, he’s never feared or held himself back from cooking or baking due to criticism of others.

Oh god, what has gotten into him?

“I’ll do it,” he answers firmly.

“Great!” Junhui smiles at him. “Anyway, Wonwoo and I have to get going now.”

Wonwoo suddenly looks up to Junhui, confusion crossing his eyes. “We do?”

Junhui stares back hard as though he were trying to silently communicate with Wonwoo. “Yes,” he responds tightly. “Need help with something before the bell rings. Come on,” he says as he pulls Wonwoo up.

“U-um ok,” Wonwoo shrugs, letting himself be dragged up. He shoots Mingyu a quick smile. “See you Gyu.”

“Nice eating lunch with you,” Junhui echoes from a little further away. But Mingyu can barely hear him, and only dumbly nods.

 _See you Gyu._ He replays Wonwoo’s words in his mind over and over. He wonders if they’ve reached that stage in friendship where they can give each other nicknames. Well Wonwoo apparently feels like they have, so they must have.

 _Gyu._ Something warm pools in Mingyu’s stomach, and he stares at his remaining lunch with a smile until the bell rings.

 

 

 

Christmas rolls by so fast and Mingyu is rushing to do everything last minute, including finishing up all his assignments before the break, and getting ready for the party. He spends the evening before the Christmas party locked away at Jinju diner working hard to bake the cake. He’d spent a fortune on the cake decorations themselves and had been really worried looking at his bank account right after. Seungcheol assures him though that the school would compensate him for it.

Mingyu wipes the sweat off his brow with his sleeve as he crouches down to add the final icing decorations and pretty ribbons.

“Ta-dah!” he grins as he adds the last little decorative pearl to the cake and stands back up with satisfaction. Seungcheol looks up from his book and even gives Mingyu a tiny smile.

“Looks good.”

Mingyu feels pride course through him. This was the first time Seungcheol directly complimented him. Even if it was just something tiny, he can’t help but feel happy.

Mingyu feels giddy with excitement as he races back to the school where the dress rehearsals for the play are taking place.

When he gets there, he’s surprised that Wen Junhui is the first to approach him.

“Mingyu!” He flashes him a dazzling smile. Junhui’s bronze hair is styled up and he’s wearing a beautiful suit. Mingyu feels like he’s being greeted by prince charming himself.

Suddenly Mingyu feels out of place standing in the auditorium. He’s holding his school uniform in a bag so he could save it from getting dirty when baking, and is wearing a faded old pink shirt, and a black hoodie that got stains from cake icing, as well as ratty jeans that had been dusted with flour. He’s pretty sure that he has bits of fondant stuck in his hair as well.

“Hey,” Mingyu smiles hesitantly.

“Um... hi,” Junhui gives him a look when his eyes scan Mingyu’s clothes.

“I was, uh baking... and um, things got _really_ disastrous and messy,” Mingyu chuckles nervously to explain.

It was true. This was Mingyu’s first time attempting such an extravagant double-tiered cake. The cake was bigger than anything he’s ever created personally; and despite his expertise with deserts, he barely just managed to complete it. If Seungcheol hadn’t been there to help, the cake really would’ve been done for.

“I see,” Junhui nods carefully. “Anyway, I was actually looking for you earlier!”

“You were?” Mingyu tilts his head in confusion.

“Yeah,” he responds. “Since you’ll be presenting the cake, I was thinking... why don’t you borrow one of my outfits? You can’t be the only not in a pretty costume you know!”

“Um I-I don’t know if that’s a g—”

“No no! Trust me, you’ll look amazing in it,” Junhui walks up to him and takes him by the shoulders, leading him to the dressing rooms. “I have another suit very similar to the one I’m wearing, but it’s navy blue. You can wear that one!”

Mingyu’s eyes now scan Junhui’s midnight green suit with beautiful golden collar lining and buttons, as well as intricate embroidery on the shoulders and cuffs. It looks far too pristine and _expensive_ for Mingyu to ever touch, much less wear. However, Junhui seems adamant on the idea, so he doesn’t protest it any further.

“Trust me everybody in the class will come in something fancy. Look! Even Wonwoo who isn’t participating in the play is all dressed up,” Junhui exclaims as they walk by Wonwoo who’s having his collar fixed by one of the stylists.

Mingyu gives Wonwoo a full once over as they pass him. He’s wearing a prince-like suit that looks as equally expensive and beautiful as Junhui’s. Mingyu observes that the two friends seem to be sort of matching, as Wonwoo’s suit is a deep royal red with golden lining all along the buttons and hem. His white shirt underneath is beautifully embroidered with golden thread too.

“Wonwoo is just acting as my substitute in case I get terribly ill or hurt somehow.” Junhui shakes his head. “Really, he just doesn’t want to be in the play so he took that role. I still want him to dress up though,” he laughs.

“I see,” Mingyu murmurs, not able to get the image of Wonwoo out of his mind as they enter the dressing room. The way Wonwoo’s jet black hair was slicked back, and the dark back eyeliner he had on made his eyes look all the more sharper and fierce. _It doesn’t suit him_ , Mingyu thinks with a start. And then he feels caught off guard by the thought because what does he know about what style suits Wonwoo and what doesn’t?

Junhui eventually pushes the suit into his hands. He glances down at the folded dark blue fabric in his arms and manages to stutter out, “T-Thanks.”

“No problem,” Junhui winks. “We have to do one more run of the play now, so I’m gonna have to scram ok?” He gives Mingyu one more pat on the back before slipping out the door.

Mingyu sighs in the empty dressing room, surrounded by mirrors and lights. There are clothes, props, and makeup strewn in every corner. Mingyu stands in front of one mirror with hesitation and glances at the reflection. His face looks so uneasy, even to himself. He slowly unfolds the suit and presses it against his chest to gage at how he would look in it. If he were to be totally honest, he thinks the outfit is weird on him. Maybe because he hasn’t worn anything as fancy since, well, _forever_. The closest that has even come to this was during middle school graduation, when he wore a simple business suit..

“Mingyu,” a sudden voice resounds behind him.

“Ahh!” Mingyu jumps in surprise. He quickly turns around to face the voice. Jeonghan is standing there leaning against the frame of the doorway, giving him an amused look.

“Pardon me, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Oh- um, no it’s fine,” Mingyu chuckles.

“That outfit...” Jeonghan points with a smile.

Mingyu bites his lips, taking in a sharp breath. “Y-yeah... Junhui gave it to me. To wear. For the party.”

“I see,” Jeonghan smiles and tilts his head against the doorway, his long blonde hair falling in perfect fashion (as usual). He has a festive headband with reindeer antlers on, and is wearing a cute white turtleneck. In short, he looks like nothing but a regular holiday angel. “It’ll look good on you.”

Mingyu can only shake his head in response, stifling a laugh. “Yeah... I don’t really think so.”

“What do you mean? Someone that looks like _you_ couldn’t possibly look bad in that,” Jeonghan says, gesturing his hands towards Mingyu.

Someone that looks like him? Mingyu looks down at his mess of an outfit in confusion. “What?”

Jeonghan lightly laughs now. “Never mind. You’re oblivious... Anyway, you want to take a walk with me? I kind of want some fresh air. Been here supervising for too long.”

“Oh um, sure.” Mingyu smiles, the nervous butterflies back to invading every part of him. The student body president was actually asking to take a walk with him? Was this real?

When they step out in the cold wintery air, Jeonghan shudders and Mingyu quickly places his school blazer that he grabbed from his bag on the way out, over Jeonghan’s shoulders.

“Oh you don’t need t—” Jeonghan immediately begins to say.

“It’s ok,” Mingyu assuredly tells him. “I’m wearing this thick hoodie.”

They walk along the pathway in silence for a little while, with only the careful gentle flutter of snowflakes between them. They finally stop at a bench and Jeonghan dusts off the seat and indicates that they sit down.

“I’m glad it’s snowing,” Jeonghan finally says to break the silence once they’re seated. He reaches out to catch some falling flakes with his bare hands that have reddened from the cold. Mingyu is tempted to take them into his own hands to warm them up, but he holds himself back, figuring that it would be too weird. “I really hate it when it’s just cold on Christmas, and there’s no snow. It just doesn’t feel right you know?”

“Yeah.” Mingyu nods. “I think I agree with you.”

Jeonghan turns to smile at him. “So how are you doing?”

“Um, good I think,” he answers quietly. “I mean, some kids actually started coming to Jinju diner besides you. I put up a small temporary menu for them. An official menu is in the making right now.”

“I see, that’s good. I’m glad.”

“Yeah... um how about you?”

“What about me?”

“You’re supervising the play?”

“Honestly, the students do everything themselves,” Jeonghan shrugs. “But there still needs to be a teacher present. And seeing that all the teachers are busy, I get stuck with the grunt work of supervising,” he explains with a laugh. There’s a short hesitant pause before Jeonghan adds, “...but Mingyu, I noticed that you’re not participating in the play with your class?”

“Y-yeah. I’m not.”

“Oh, how come?”

“U-um... I just, didn’t think it was for me you know?” Mingyu does his best to laugh like it’s no big deal.

“Is that it?”

“Well yeah...” He hesitates before letting out a sigh. “For the most part. I mean, I was never really invited to join the play? I’d probably suck at it anyway.”

“They should’ve invited you,” Jeonghan frowns. “And why would you think that? Don’t beat it till you’ve tried it.”

“Yeah but... it just doesn’t work.”

“What doesn’t work?” Jeonghan looks at him with questioning eyes, and Mingyu notices the amber flecks in them from the light of the lamppost beside the bench.

“Like, me being in that class.” Mingyu sighs. “It’s supposed to be the _special_ class and I’m just—”

“Ok stop right there.” Jeonghan holds out his hands to get him to stop. “Seriously... don’t say those things about yourself. I don’t play this card often, but take it from the student body president... you _belong_ in that class.”

Mingyu grows silent for a while before shaking his head. “Honestly... when I’m always surrounded by all these rich and talented and even famous students, it’s difficult to continue believing that.”

“Mingyu, listen to me,” Jeonghan sighs and suddenly reaches out to take Mingyu’s reddened cheeks between his icy fingertips. Mingyu immediately falls silent. The snow keeps gently falling around them and he blinks with widened eyes back at Jeonghan.

“Someone once told me...” Jeonghan continues, “big stars, small stars, they can all shine equally bright in the night sky.”

Jeonghan pulls away, and there’s a somewhat sad smile on his face. Another stretch of silence runs between them.

“Please don’t talk to me in metaphors,” is what Mingyu finally blurts out in the end. He immediately wants to curl in on himself right after.

Luckily Jeonghan only laughs and shakes his head. “I can’t say it any way else.” He gets up with some finality and brushes off the snow that had speckled Mingyu’s hair. “I have to get back to supervising now before I get in trouble.”

Mingyu gets up as well, dusting off his jeans. “Oh ok. I’ll um... see you around.”

“Ok, bye.”

He watches Jeonghan’s retreating back, his blazer still around the student president’s shoulders and it makes him smile. But when he’s seven or eight meters away, Mingyu can’t stop from calling out, “Jeonghan hyung!”

Jeonghan partially turns around to look at him. The snow is blowing harder now and Mingyu can no longer see his expression from this distance. Regardless, he yells out, “Are you coming to the Christmas party tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I am!” Jeonghan yells back.

“Good, I’ll see you there. Look for me!”

He can almost hear the smile in Jeonghan’s voice as he answers back “Alright I will!”

 

 

 

The next evening, he walks into the auditorium with the fancy suit on and the cake balanced carefully in his hands. Students are slowly filing in to be seated for the opening remarks before the play and other performances start.

Mingyu’s mouth goes dry however when he sees a group of workers, all with uniforms from what looks like Gaon restaurant, preparing the buffet table. It’s not so much the buffet table that makes his heart drop— but it’s what’s at the end of the draped table. There, where _his_ cake was supposed to be placed, is a gigantic and absolutely beautiful winter themed triple-tiered cake, complete with a sugar crystal snowflake resting at the top. It’s far more extravagant than Mingyu’s creation, and immediately he kind of wants to run away or shrink into the floor.

“Wow I can’t believe Junhui was able to get such an amazing looking cake for the party!” He hears a couple students remark in the background, sounding impressed.

_Junhui?_

Rather than running away like he initially wanted to, something seems to come over him and he rushes up to the workers and students helping. “I’m sorry, I think there was a mistake!”

The girls from Class A are the first to look up at him.

Mingyu continues explaining himself frantically, “I made this cake for the assembly because Junhui asked me to and—”

“Are you kidding me?” One of the girls asks with cold eyes. “Why would Junhui ask _you_ , when his uncle works at a famous restaurant?”

There are murmurs and agreements all around.

“It’s just like in the cafeteria,” a boy from his class scoffs. You just think you’re that much better than the chefs at Gaon don’t you?”

“W-what?” Mingyu stammers, his chest growing heavy with each passing second.

_But Junhui asked him._

_He worked so hard on this cake and..._

“N-no! I don’t—” Before Mingyu can finish his sentence, one of the girls who first called him out marches up to him.

“And where did you get this nice suit?” She glares at him. “It really doesn’t fit low class country kids like you.” She laughs humourlessly and goes to pluck the flower pin from his chest pocket.

Alarmed by the movement, Mingyu stumbles backwards, bumping into another passing student.

All at once the plate in his hands slips and Mingyu goes tumbling down to the ground. The plate smashes against the floor and the cake is completely crushed from the fall. Now there’s icing and fondant all over the expensive suit as well.

There are gasps all around and Mingyu looks up in absolute shock. Funny enough, the first person his eyes meet are none other than Wen Junhui’s.

What’s that look in Junhui’s eyes? It’s that same blank and icy look Mingyu saw a couple weeks ago in the cafeteria with Wonwoo. It was just for a couple seconds then and Mingyu had thought it was just the trick of the light, but he definitely doesn’t miss it now.

Junhui stands unmoving for a while, and slowly his eyes move away from Mingyu, so seemingly detached and distant from this whole scene.  

Suddenly everything around him feels like it’s spinning and he really can’t do this anymore. Mingyu picks himself back up, wincing from the pain of the fall, and no one bothers helping him up. Without another glance at the mess on the floor, he turns and flees the auditorium.

He doesn’t really know or care where he’s going but somehow he ends up at the nearest bathroom and rushes inside. His chest heaves up and down, and his fingers tremble as he holds the ledge of the sink.

_Calm down, calm down, calm down._

But no matter how much Mingyu tries to keep his emotions in check, he can’t stop the liquid burning at the back of his eyes from slipping out and starting to spill everywhere. He frantically tries to brush the droplets away— but the more he does so, the faster they fill his eyes again, making his surroundings go blurry.

His turns on the tap with his shaking hands and splashes his face with cold water, still trying to stop the tears. He stares at the reflection before him and thinks, with alarm, that he doesn’t recognize the person he sees before him. He sees an old stranger standing there, his palms pressed against the ledge of the sink, breathing heavily with red-rimmed eyes and lips bitten raw. He feels like he’s been thrust back years and years, back to the week of winter when his parents died. He remembers how he spent that first Christmas crying non-stop, thinking he didn’t belong anywhere in this world.

What did the headmaster see when he gave Mingyu a scholarship here and placed him in the special class? Did he just see the poor orphaned boy with dreams too big for his own good, and took pity on him? He doesn’t belong here. He can’t dress like them, he can’t talk like them, or act like them. He doesn’t belong in the special class either. He has no talent, no riches, nothing.... he has nothing, he _is_ nothing.

More tears dribble down his cheeks as Mingyu stumbles to the paper towels. He tries to rip off pieces and wipe away the mess of cake on his outfit.

He suddenly hears loud voices ringing against the empty hallways outside the washroom.

“I can’t believe he ruined the suit!”

Mingyu immediately freezes, the paper towel falling to the tiled floor. He recognizes the voice: it’s Junhui.

“God that was so expensive and now—”

Suddenly, another voice interrupts Junhui.

“Wait wait wait— hold up! Are you fucking serious right now?”

Mingyu’s mouth goes dry. This one belongs to none other than Jeon Wonwoo.

Mingyu looks around frantically. He probably shouldn’t be hearing this, and wants to run out of the bathroom right now. But he knows they’re standing just outside, talking about _him_ , so he really doesn’t want to face that.

“Um, yeah??” Junhui snaps back, sounding annoyed. “My parent’s are gonna kill me and oh god—”

“Ok look here, it wasn’t even Mingyu’s fault alright? It was those stuck up ass kids from the special class. If you’re going to blame anyone for ruining your suit, blame them!”

Wonwoo sounds almost... angry? The only time Mingyu had heard him even remotely raise his voice was one line, at Jeonghan, on the day they met. Other than that, he’s always been all calm exterior and cool eyes.

Suddenly it feels like everything around Mingyu is tipping sideways and going blurry again. He drags himself down to sit against the wall of the bathroom and pulls his knees against his chest, burying his face there. He kind of just wants everything to go away.

He blocks out Junhui and Wonwoo’s voices and thinks of Granny Soohee and the kids at the Lavender house. Mingyu just wants to go back. He _misses_ them. He doesn’t want to spend another Christmas alone like this again. He squeezes his eyes shut, unable to stop the tiny sobs escaping his lips once again.

Junhui’s increasingly raised voice ringing outside the bathroom is what makes Mingyu snap back to reality. The sob escaping his lips gets lost halfway up his throat and he freezes, tuning the conversation back in.

“Look, why do you even care so much?”

“Why do I care?” Wonwoo demands. “I don’t know! Maybe the fact that Mingyu worked really hard on that cake?”

“Yeah, and I worked really hard on that play— but look at this mess,” he can hear Junhui huff in exasperation.

“Oh my god, get over yourself Junhui! The play is only delayed for like twenty minutes.”

“Fuck, don’t call me that.”

“Call you what?”

“Jun... _hui_. Ugh. You only call me that when you’re really pissed off at me and I hate it.”

“Um genius, I _am_ fucking pissed off at you. Junhui Junhui Junhui Junhui.”

“No Stop! Ew.”

“Ok look, can you just tell me this?” He can hear a loud and tired sigh from Wonwoo who is clearly trying to level his voice again. “Did you _know_ that there was already another cake being ordered?”

“I...” Junhui’s voice breaks a little and grows muffled enough that Mingyu can no longer hear what he’s saying.

“God you asshole!” Wonwoo suddenly yells out and Mingyu almost winces.

“Hey No! I didn’t mean it like that! Like, I didn’t think they were just gonna order one without giving me a heads up ok? Because last year I asked for the cake as an extra. So I thought it was _unlikely_ a—”

“But you didn’t know for sure.”

“Yeah...” Junhui goes quiet again.

“If you weren’t a hundred percent certain, you should’ve checked just in case.”

“I know. I know ok?” Junhui sounds so defeated and tired now, and it’s enough to make Mingyu’s stomach churn uncomfortably. “I screwed up.”

“Mhmm,” Wonwoo responds.  

“I...”

There’s a long stretch of silence now and Mingyu glances up at the bathroom lights and closes his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Junhui finally says, though it’s barely audible— at least to him.

“Ok.”

“I’m such a dickhead.”

“Yeah you are.”

“And I shouldn’t have said all that shit about the clothing, and the play being delayed.... God I was being such a dipshit,” Junhui sighs, the frustration evident in his words.

“Mhm, you really were.”

“Sorry,” Junhui repeats again.

“Honestly, I don’t think I’m the one you owe that apology to.”

“Yeah I know. I’ll talk to him after the play...”

“Good.”

“I don’t know. Honestly, maybe I just said all that because...” Junhui’s voice trails off and Mingyu slumps against the wall feeling exhausted.

“...because?”

“Like I don’t know. It’s just that...”

“Just what? What is it?”

“N-nothing. It’s fine,” Junhui stammers, and even from the bathroom Mingyu can hear the nervous breaks between the syllables.

“Junnie.” Wonwoo’s anger from moments ago sounds as though it had faded, and Mingyu notices the subtle hint of concern in his voice.  

“No, just don’t worry about it ok?” Junhui tries to assure him. “Play is in 15 minutes. Um... I’m gonna go ok?”

“Ok. Bye.”

 

 

***

 

 

Wonwoo sighs, watching Junhui’s retreating back.

He had gone to the auditorium only to see Mingyu run out past him without even taking notice of him. He wanted to call out to Mingyu, ask him why he was rushing out like that, but there was a such a commotion inside the auditorium that he was compelled to enter.

Well, he found out what had happened shortly after, and saw the mess of Mingyu’s cake being cleaned up. A few students who had witnessed the incident, explained to him how the cake had fallen.

After hearing all that, Wonwoo’s eyes immediately landed on Junhui’s— and in the heat of the moment he felt his temper rise slightly. He had then pulled his friend outside to have a little conversation with him.

He’s now extremely glad that their argument didn’t blow out of proportion as he watches Junhui head back to the auditorium to prepare for the play. Otherwise it would’ve likely affected his performance.

He sighs and enters the bathroom to clean off his makeup. Well he doesn't get quite to, because he meets an unexpected person inside.

“Mingyu?” He asks, surprised to see Mingyu sitting on the cold tiled floor beside the sinks.

Mingyu looks up at him and Wonwoo’s heart falls when he sees the red around his eyes.

“H-hey,” his voice cracks slightly when he speaks.

Wonwoo quickly goes down to crouch in front of him.

“Y-you know the saying, don’t cry over spilt cake?” Mingyu blearily asks, letting out a deprecating sounding laugh.

Wonwoo doesn’t even have the heart to correct him that it’s supposed to be milk.

“Well, I think I need to pay attention to that saying more,” Mingyu says, squeezing his eyes shut.

“Don’t say that.” Wonwoo shakes his head. “It’s ok to cry. I know you worked hard on that cake.”

“Mhmm,” Mingyu nods absentmindedly and bites his lips before slowly getting up from the floor. Wonwoo gets up as well and notices the way Mingyu’s lips are so red, as though he’d been chewing at them constantly.

There’s a pang in his chest. He hates how Mingyu looks so sad and helpless... it’s so unlike the bright and lively guy that he’d grown used too. But now Mingyu just looks so _vulnerable_ , and Wonwoo knows how much he sucks at verbal support so he hesitantly reaches out and pats Mingyu’s arm in what he hopes can be “comforting”.

Mingyu blinks down at him with puffy eyes, and Wonwoo decides that just patting his arm is a little too awkward, even for him. He doesn’t know what comes over him after that because he exhales, leans up, and then just wraps his arm around Mingyu’s taller stature.

It’s kind of like hugging a tree— but a more muscular tree? Wonwoo immediately tries to dispel the thought from his mind.

He’s never been one to actively offer _any_ kind of emotional support— yet here he is: hugging Kim Mingyu.

Mingyu leans down into the hug and buries his nose into his shoulder, his fluffy hair tickling Wonwoo’s cheeks a little in the process. His shoulders are shaking slightly, though there are no tears, and Wonwoo slowly reaches up and starts carding his fingers through Mingyu’s messy and soft locks, in a way he hopes is _actually_ comforting.

They pull away from each other after much too long, and Mingyu rubs his sore looking eyes and finally cracks a tiny genuine smile. “Thanks,” he says, voice coming out scratchy.

“N-no problem,” Wonwoo awkwardly replies, avoiding his eyes. He’s pretty sure his cheeks rival a tomato at this point, and he can’t help but feel a gravitating desire to step closer to Mingyu’s personal bubble, and again feel the same warmth he just experienced. The thought makes his cheeks burn even more.

“Do you...” he clears his throat nervously. “Do you want to get out of here?”

Mingyu looks at him hesitantly. “And go where?”

“Jinju diner maybe? You like it there right?”

“Yeah I do. But you...” Mingyu’s voice trails off.

“But what?” He furrows his eyebrows. Wonwoo figured that Mingyu definitely didn’t want to go back into that auditorium again.

“Shouldn’t you go see the play? It’s starting in five minutes,” Mingyu quietly asks him.

“I’ve practically already seen it at the rehearsals.”

“Yeah, but that can’t be the same thing as seeing the real thing right? Plus...” Mingyu pauses for a second before adding, “Junhui wants you to be there.”

“Mingyu,” Wonwoo sighs with a shake of his head. “I’ve been to every single one of Junnie’s plays since we were kids. I don’t think it’ll matter if I miss one right?”

“But it’s important to him you know,” Mingyu whispers, now fixated on the ground and playing with the tips of his shoes.

“I know,” Wonwoo sighs. “But the thing is, I’d rather not leave a friend looking _this_ miserable just to go catch a play ok?”

When Mingyu doesn’t respond, Wonwoo impulsively reaches out and takes his hands to start leading them out towards the diner. Mingyu doesn’t let go, which he understands as a ‘not-rejection to his offer’, as they step out into the cold night.

They’d been walking in silence for a while until Wonwoo decides to ask, “Hey, did you hear all that?”

“Huh?”

“At the school. When we were talking... Junnie and I.”

“Oh. That. Yeah...” Mingyu answers honestly.

Wonwoo continues staring straight ahead while walking, hands still tightly clasped around Mingyu’s. “I see...” Wonwoo sighs. “He’s not a bad guy you know?”

“Junhui?”

“Yeah...”  

“Never thought he was.”

“Well that’s good,” Wonwoo smiles with relief and finally turns to glance at Mingyu. “He’s just been kind of hard headed lately, and I don’t know why. But he’ll come around. I promise.”

When they arrive at the diner, Seungcheol is there talking to someone else. The bell attached to the door sounds as they enter and Wonwoo peers closer at the person in question. Before he has time to express his surprise, Mingyu beats him to it.

“Jeonghan hyung?!”

Jeonghan turns to greet them both with a cheerful smile. “Hello!”  

Wonwoo is honestly a little too tired to keep up his ongoing feud with his brother for one night, so he plops down on the chair across from him without any protests. Seungcheol gets up to let Mingyu sit.

“I heard about what happened,” Jeonghan says looking at Mingyu with concern.

Mingyu begins chewing on his lips again. “Yeah I’m so clumsy...”

“Nonsense, it wasn’t even your fault,” Jeonghan shakes his head. “Mingyu, you—”

“Hyung.” Mingyu suddenly cuts in, voice sharp and clear, albeit a little shaky. “You were wrong.”

“About what Mingyu?”

“Me belonging in that class.” Mingyu’s lower lip wobbles slightly as he speaks and Wonwoo is scared he’ll start crying because he _really_ doesn’t know how to deal with that. He could barely help Mingyu the way he was back at the bathroom.

Mingyu seems to blink hard before he begins talking fast, words hitting down like hailstones against the table. “I know you tried to help me when I talked to you. Tried to convince me. And thank you for all that. But I honestly just don’t belong here.” he shakes his head profusely. “I-I have no special talents, and even the cake I made went to shit, and nobody even wants me here and...” Mingyu’s voice cracks, and a couple stray tears escape from the corners of his eyes.

Wonwoo freezes. Mingyu had been going to his _brother_ for help and advice because he felt like he didn’t fit in with the class? Ugly feelings suddenly creep into his mind.

Now it’s not as if Wonwoo hadn’t noticed the issue either. He thought about all the times he left Mingyu alone for lunch, only sitting with him when Junhui wasn’t around— and he silently curses at himself. He honestly wasn’t trying to come across like an asshole. He was only trying to convince Junhui throughout the week that the three should sit together. He didn’t understand why Junhui seemed to hold something against Mingyu for seemingly no reason. But at the same time he didn’t want to simply abandon his old friend.

After all, who was the one who convinced Junhui to let Mingyu make the cake for the assembly? Of course that ended up in disaster, and was pretty much the reason Mingyu is so miserable now— but his efforts were genuine!

Wonwoo tries to shake free of his thoughts while Jeonghan swiftly gets up to stand beside Mingyu. He leans down and wipes Mingyu’s eyes. “Mingyu don’t say that. I want you here. And so does Wonwoo, _right_?” Jeonghan brings his gaze back up to him, eyes knowing and almost teasing.

“U-um yes, v-very much so,” he manages to stammer out.

Mingyu gives him a tiny glance before looking back down at his hands and absentmindedly scratching his nails.

Jeonghan sighs and smiles, ruffling Mingyu’s hair. “You know what? Why don’t I make tea? I mean, I’m more of a coffee person, but at times like this, tea can solve anything!”

Wonwoo looks at his brother incredulously. He wants to make tea _now_? When Mingyu looks like this?

 _Tea solves everything?_ The fuck?

Jeonghan meets his eyes and calmly gestures towards Mingyu, as if to tell Wonwoo to comfort him while he’s busy making goddamn tea.

God, his brother was an absolute nutcase.

 

 

 

10 minutes later it seems as though Jeonghan had made more than just some tea. “Take your pick,” he says as he sets down a tray in front of Mingyu with three identical looking cups.

Mingyu stares at the tray in surprise. “Are these different types of tea?”

“Can you tell which is which?”

Mingyu slowly picks them up one by one and closes his eyes while taking in the scent.

“I smell citrus. This is Darjeeling...

This is a sweet smell. Assam tea....                                      

And this one smells refreshing. It’s Nilgiri.”

Wonwoo blinks in surprise as Mingyu is picking up the teacups one by one and naming the tea. He picks two up himself and sniffs between them.

“You can tell just by smelling the tea?” he asks in awe. They honestly all smelled the same to him.

Mingyu shrugs. “They’re all quite different.”

Jeonghan places one other teacup in front of Mingyu. “How about this one? Which of the three is it?”

Mingyu furrows his brows this time when smelling the tea, looking slightly confused. This time, he brings the cup to his lips before setting it down.

“Oh right! You can tell by tasting it,” Wonwoo nods and tries a sip of the tea himself. “It’s Darjeeling right?”

“No,” Mingyu mutters and closes his eyes. “It smells like the fields back at Goeseung. It’s like mint.”

Mingyu takes another sip and frowns. “Plus there’s this bitterness too...” He eventually smiles at Jeonghan. “The answer is none of these three teas.”

“Correct.”

“And the bitterness is from bearberry right?” Mingyu asks. “It can’t be steeped in with the tea for too long or it will become bitter. I can tell, this one was left for about 30 seconds too long.”

“Wonwoo do you get it now?” Jeonghan glances over at him.

“Y-yeah, I think so,” Wonwoo slowly closes his jaw that had been hanging open. “Mingyu’s special talent is...”

“A perfect sense of taste.” Jeonghan smiles. “Basically Mingyu can judge any taste without needing to compare it. And once he tries a food, he will never forget the taste. He can also pinpoint the exact ingredients of a dish, and how it was made.”

Mingyu looks up at him questioningly.

“Still don’t think you belong in the special class Mingyu?” Jeonghan gets up with a smile and reaches into his bag. “I brought what I needed to show you today,” he explains, pulling out a picture frame and handing it to Mingyu.

“M-my parents,” Mingyu whispers in disbelief, staring at the photo.

“Yep, with our father. He was a big fan of their work and met them on multiple occasions. When he heard that they passed away in an accident he was shocked,” Jeonghan tells him. “He always told me they had a son that probably shared the same special ability as them. I’ve always wanted to meet you since then. See if it was true... And now that I know you’re the real deal,” Jeonghan takes Mingyu’s hands. “I know you can become a pastry chef as renowned as your parents.”

Mingyu bows his head. “Thank you so much hyung.”

Wonwoo can feel a small smile forming on his face. Ok, so maybe his brother wasn’t such a nutcase after all.

 

 

 

Wonwoo rushes back to the Christmas party to catch the last little bit of the play on his own. Mingyu decided he didn’t want to go back, and Wonwoo honestly doesn’t blame him. Jeonghan stayed back as well to keep him and Seungcheol some company, as he put it.

“Good job,” he tells Junhui, feeling a little guilty that he missed majority of the play. But Junhui seems happy, so he doesn’t see the big deal here.

He watches the rest of the performances feeling bored, and soon the buffet and dance floor is opened— but Wonwoo can only find himself sitting against the wall of the auditorium scanning the area for sight of the tall stature and assured smile of Kim Mingyu.

“Guess he decided not to come,” Wonwoo mumbles to himself, staring at his shoes.

“What?” Junhui questions walking over with a drink in hand.

“Nothing.”

Maybe Junhui can sense his off mood because he lightly taps his shoulder. “You want to see them lighting up the Christmas tree now?”

“Nah, it looks the same every year,” Wonwoo yawns. “Honestly, I think I’ll just head back to the dorms early.”

“Awh Wonwoo come on!”

Wonwoo is already beginning to turn away, when suddenly there are amazed and stunned murmurs all around him. He slowly turns back around to see what the excitement is all about, eyes traveling up the Christmas tree. The sight makes him stop in wonder. It turns out that the decorations are indeed different this year.

Lining every corner of the giant tree, there are beautifully designed ornaments.

“Merry Christmas!” Calls out a voice and Wonwoo’s eyes travel to the base of the tree where Mingyu is standing, complete with a Santa Claus costume, carrying a sack of who knows what. Behind him is Seungcheol, also wearing a matching costume, looking like he doesn’t quite know why he’s even here.

The real surprise of the night actually comes when he suddenly notices the students around him happily munching on cookies.

He steps closer towards the tree, and only now does he see that the beautifully decorated ornaments are actually Christmas cookies.

“These are so good!” some students exclaim as they happily munch on the treat.

Mingyu stands in front of him with a grin now. “I found my own way to shine,” he says as holds out a cookie for Wonwoo, which he gladly takes.

“When did you make all this?” Wonwoo shakes his head and laughs. Why did Mingyu need to be so amazing and impress him at every turn?

“Once you left. Jeonghan and Seungcheol helped me,” Mingyu says happily.

Wonwoo immediately tries a bite of the cookie and he’s surprised at how soft they are, and the way they melt into his mouth. “Oh, this is really good.”

“I’m glad you like it!”

Wonwoo stares at Mingyu’s chocolate brown eyes that seem so alight with life now; the tears that had stained it just hours ago were already fading, and he feels a gentle smile forming on his face.

Mingyu returns the smile before he turns and continues handing out Christmas cookies to the other students from the sack he’d been holding— but Wonwoo’s eyes remain fixated on him.

The way Mingyu smiles so brightly that he might as well be the sun; the way he’s so clumsy at times and unable to keep his own giant limbs in check; the way he puts his whole heart and passion into the food he makes— all those details about Mingyu now swarm around Wonwoo’s head, and there are a million butterflies chasing one another in the pit of his stomach.

He doesn’t know why he suddenly feels this almost magnetic, gravitating pull, moving him towards Mingyu.

But the more Wonwoo watches him, the stronger that pull becomes.

 

 

***

 

 

_Big stars, small stars, they can all shine equally bright in the night sky._

As Mingyu watches everyone around him enjoying the cookies, he realizes that he was finally beginning to understand what Jeonghan had been talking about. A warm feeling grows in his chest as he watches the festive and happy scene before him.

He supposes this Christmas wasn’t going to be terrible after all.

“Now, a few words from the academy director,” a teacher standing before the stage of the auditorium announces.

Mingyu turns back around and he freezes. There, standing on the podium where the director should be, is _Jeonghan hyung_?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be posted on Christmas day but oops, oh well xD better late than never lmao  
> Also I'm sorry Mingyu. Idk why you always suffer so much in my fics. In the next fic I post, I promise Wonwoo will suffer way more lmao. (Wow ok, this is so mean for me to say. Maybe I should just stick to happy things only, no drama and where no one gets hurt lol)


End file.
